Dickson County, Tennessee · Charlotte
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With 16% of homes built before 1960 and about 14 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in February. Dickson County averages 11.6 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Dickson County spike on heavy-rain days, about 11.6 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Dickson County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 4.19 inches, and about 63 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
4% of occupied homes in Dickson County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Tennessee county median of 7.8%.
With 76 muggy nights a year, mold in Dickson County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 23,657 homes and around 55,983 residents, Dickson County is 490 square miles of northwest Tennessee. The county seat is Charlotte, and Dickson, White Bluff and Burns round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1988.
51/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Dickson County ranks 46 of 95 Tennessee counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Dickson County ranks highest compared with other Tennessee counties.
Dickson is on the colder side of Tennessee for pipes. It averaged 68 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 14 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 95 Tennessee counties that's 12th.
On December 23, 2022 the low fell to about -3°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 7 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
The freeze season here runs December to February, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 4 and the last spring freeze around Apr 1.
Dickson gets fewer downpours than most Tennessee counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 52.3 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 11.6 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 79th of 95. February, April and July see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.19 inches, September 1, 2017. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.87 inches (through September 2, 2017).
About 63 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
Tennessee's 95 counties range widely in housing age; Dickson ranks 67th, with 37% of its homes built before 1980.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 16% predate 1960 and 30% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
About 32% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 11% of the housing here. Water lines in the underbelly depend on intact skirting and working heat tape, and they're usually the first to freeze in a cold snap.
Beyond water
Dickson County averages 76 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in February. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Dickson County homes break down as 47% utility gas, 48% electric, 3% propane and 1% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Dickson County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Dickson gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Humphreys County has the oldest housing nearby, with 53% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Dickson | Tennessee median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 16% | 16% | 55 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 37% | 41% | 67 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 30% | 27% | 33 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 11% | 16% | 62 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 8% | 12% | 77 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 4.1% | 7.8% | 74 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 14/yr | 11/yr | 12 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 12/yr | 14/yr | 79 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 63/yr | 60/yr | 36 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 76/yr | 74/yr | 41 of 95 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Tennessee county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Dickson County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in February, April and July.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024); weather from NOAA nClimGrid-Daily county averages (EpiNOAA), 2015–2024, averaged across the county; county boundaries from Census TIGER. Reviewed 2026-10-21. Methodology